My wife (Rachel Snyder) and I have a lovely conversation with retired Special Education Teacher, Green Party Member, Singer, and Owner of the Wild Eye Pub (in Grass Valley, California), Beth Moore. We discuss Beth growing up with a sex-positive mother and stepfather, spending time in a free love commune, living in Uganda at the age of 7, her biological father driving home drunk after dark with a teenage Beth on the hood of his truck without headlights, living a free-spirited life as a young adult, building a log cabin with her father deep in the woods of Northern California, being in a physically abusive relationship, raising children while going to college for Special Education, discovering the joys of teaching children with disabilities, finding her singing voice, possibly identifying as ADHD, opening the Wild Eye Pub with her husband in 2018, becoming sober, and keeping her business on life-support during a pandemic, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, June 9th, 2021

To learn about the Wild Eye Pub, please visit: https://www.wildeyepub.com/

To learn more about Rachel and I, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I have a life-changing conversation with award-winning Theatre/Film Director, Professor Emeritus at UCLA, and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), José Luis Valenzuela. We discuss José’s formative years in Mexico, witnessing the misery of the wealthy as a child, identifying with the oppressed, desiring to create social justice theatre from a young age, working with El Teatro de la Gente, creating the Latino Theatre Lab in 1985, directing Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman at the National Theatre of Norway, directing the world premiere of Dementia, written by Evelina Fernandez for the Latino Theater Initiative, choosing artistic integrity over commercial success, working with Scott Bakula & Cheech Marin in the film Luminarias, encouraging me to share my creative gifts, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, June 2nd, 2021

To learn about José’s work at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), please visit: https://www.latinotheaterco.org/

To learn more about José, please visit: https://www.tft.ucla.edu/blog/2011/09/08/faculty-jose-luis-valenzuela/

To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I have a much-needed conversation with Director, Screenwriter, Actor, Anti-Porn Advocate, and friend, Michael Lovan. We discuss Michael growing up in a military family in Hanford (California), experiencing the horrific trauma/loss of a childhood friend, desiring to tell stories at a young age, being inspired by the musical Les Misérables, trying to find his creative path in UCLA’s Theater Department, working for a high-profile film/advertising executive, creating a documentary in Japan, helping with the tsunami recovery in Fukushima in 2011, transforming from being part of our pornographic culture to becoming an anti-porn advocate, finding love with Amy, becoming a father, writing/directing his latest film, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, May 26th, 2021

To watch Michael’s latest film, please visit: www.MurderBuryWin.com

Michael’s Instagram Account: instagram.com/MichaeLovan

To view Michael’s film-themed family portraits, please visit: instagram.com/everlovan

Michael’s Twitter Account: Twitter.com/Michaelovan

To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I continue my conversation with Author, Activist, Deprofessionalized Intellectual, mentor, and friend, Gustavo Esteva. Gustavo shares his thoughts on removing the fascist within our minds by nurturing loving horizontal relationships within our families/communities and creating valuable means of living well without the need for having exhausting jobs. This is part of a series of discussions. To view previous conversations, please visit the (Blind) Man in Black YouTube channel or listen on Apple Podcasts. Please rate and review. Thank you for viewing/listening!

Recording Date: Saturday, May 15th, 2021

To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I have a soulful conversation with former Actor, Pianist, Animal Rights Advocate, LGBTQ Advocate, Underdog Advocate, Psychotherapist, and friend, Lisa Shapiro. We discuss Lisa possibly being conceived in a swimming pool in Florida, her early life growing up in Brooklyn with a Russian grandmother with Borderline Personality Disorder, being a prodigy on the piano at 5-years-old, taking many walks on the “wild side,” dating a 25-year-old man at 16-years-old, being accepted into CalArts by being “annoyingly persistent,” dating a 34-year-old woman at 20-years-old, alluding to a mysterious means of making money, attending Columbia University, having empathetic eyes, the correlation between the desire to be an actor or psychologist, making Lisa feel safe by sharing my pornographic work experience, Lisa being recruited by the FBI to be a special agent, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021

To learn more about me, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

Rachel Snyder, my wife/mom, and I have a Mother’s Day celebration with my mom, Judith Leach. We discuss my mon’s feelings of not belonging to anyone or anything, catholic guilt, idealizing her mountain man father, scandalous rumors surrounding her parents’ divorce, having to eat potato peels as punishment for her poor peeling skills, studying modeling at the John Robert Powers School of Modeling, meeting Herb Caen, dating Troy Donahue, drag racing in Fresno, being asked to pose nude for Playboy, her role in Jerry Lewis’ film Cinderfella, being asked to wear lingerie for the Harvey Weinstein of the 1950s, dating/marrying my comedian/singer father, experiencing the suicide of my uncle, living the film This Boy’s Life, raising two blind/deaf sons, analyzing the paralleling life experiences of Judith and Rachel, and much more.

Recording Date: Saturday, May 8th, 2021

To learn more about Rachel and I, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I have an impromptu conversation with Writer, Editor, Public Speaker, Death Positive Advocate, Funeral Counselor, TikTok Enthusiast, Late Night Bath Lover, and my loving wife, Rachel Snyder. We discuss her exploring Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the evolution of our arguments, feeling joy amidst grief for missed opportunities/damaged relationships, repairing self-esteem after being recognized as neurodivergent late in life, living with regrets, whether a strong reaction to being interrupted is a pet peeve or a stressor, why Rachel records our arguments like Richard Nixon, how Rachel broke Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EDMR) therapy, what she's doing in the bathroom for 3-5 hours every night into the early morning, how I deal with severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), my feelings of not existing withing time/space, and my lack of desire to dry off after taking a shower.

Recording Date: Wednesday, April 28th, 2020

To read Rachel’s writings, please visit: https://www.rachelsjames.com/selected-work/

To learn about Rachel and Brian, please visit: www.blindmaninblack.com

I have a therapeutic conversation with Director, Musician, Founder/President of Actionplay, and friend, Aaron Feinstein. We discuss Aaron’s life growing up in Porn Valley, being bullied by Cobra Kai, cultivating friendships, the trauma of not being cast in a single children’s play for 3 years, paternal podiatry, me defiling his cherished family furs, finding peace in songwriting, Seinfeld versus Friends, our time together at UCLA, Trump/Ubu Roi, riding vintage bikes in New York City during a pandemic, drinking freezing gin to get through the day, Oliver Stone stealing Aaron’s screenplay for the film, “W,” creating accessible/inclusive theatre, me being an “unstable” actor, Aaron having no interest in being a comic despite the fact that he is very funny, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, April 21st, 2021

To learn more about Aaron’s work at Actionplay, please visit: https://actionplay.org/

I have a conversation with Deprofessionalized Intellectual, Activist, Author, and friend, Gustavo Esteva. We discuss how to find joy in living well through convivial autonomous activities, while removing fascist thinking from one’s own mind and understanding the methods of oppression, exploitation, and control which is instilled within all aspects of the prison-like confines of Capitalism. This is a continuation of a series of conversations that can be found on the (Blind) Man in Black YouTube channel or Apple Podcasts.

Recording Date: Sunday, April 18th, 2021

I have a conversation with Disability Justice Educator, Public Speaker, Workshop Facilitator, Author, Activist, Spoken Word Performer, and Goddess on Wheels, Maria R. Palacios. We discuss Maria’s early life growing up with a disability in Latin America, moving to Texas as a teenager, finding her community with people with disabilities, participating in the Capitol Crawl, always feeling “secretly sexy,” normies/ablism, working at a Center for Independent Living, independence versus interdependence, being a part of ADAPT, creating disability justice performance art with Sins Invalid, sharing her experiences through writing, welcoming those that acquire a disability into the community, and much more.

Recording Date: Wednesday, March 31st, 2021

To read Maria’s writings, please visit: https://cripstory.wordpress.com/

To listen to Maria’s latest music project, please visit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vamitU4E84g7LkLFiFXSgTghGokplTji/view?usp=drivesdk

Contact Maria at: [email protected]